Shock-absorber.



F. W. MERRITT.

SHOCK ABSORBER. APPLICATION FILED FEB.13, 1909. 95 1,376, Patented Mar.8, 1910.

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SHOCK ABSORBER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 13, 1909.

Patented Mar. 8, 1910.

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tion, of a device in the main like Fig. 1

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FRANK W. MERRITT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TOAUTO-APPLIANCE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SHOCK-ABSORBER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, F RANK W. MERRITT, a citizen of the United States,and resident of the borough of Manhattan, in the city, county, and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inShock-Absorbers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to what are termed shock absorbers and it consistsprimarily in a pair of devices, one adapted to be secured to the axle orother part of the running gear and the other to the frame or body of thevehicle, each being arranged to register with the other and beingsecured so as to turn one upon the other, but with an elastic substancetending to hold them in normal position, a round or cylindrical bodyinterposed between the opposed faces of the registering parts, and oneor more cam faces against which the interposed body shall ear.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a device embodying my invention,secured to a motor car (but partly shown). Fig. 2 is an interior faceview of one of the members. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the device ofFig. 2. Fig. 4 is an interior face view of another member of device.Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the disk part and an edge view of the armof the device of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 represents the rubber spring I prefer toemploy. Fig. 7 shows a compression plate. Fig. 8 a washer intended torelieve friction between the compression plate and the head of the boltof the nut. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the dust shield. Fig. 10represents a modified form of the device. Fig. 11 is a view of the partsof the modified form assembled, showing the device from the sideopposite to that shown in Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic viewrepresenting sections of the two members placed in opposition, as theywould appear if the circle were cut and bent to a straight line. Fig. 13is a sectional view of a form of the device still further modified. Fig.14: is a view, partly in full lines and partly in seebut showing thevariety of compressiori plates already shown in Fig. 13.

It has been found by users of motor cars that the springs ordinarilyemployed are insuficient. The great weight of such ve- Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed February 13, 1909.

Patented Mar. 8, 1910. Serial No. 477,493.

preferably made of tempered steel, the first of which is provided witharm 3, and the other part (as shown) being provided with lugs, piercedwith bolt holes, to permit it to be secured to the body of a vehicle orother desired place. The length of the arm depends somewhat upon theintended place of use, but eight inches or a little less from the centerof the disk to the outer end of the arm is usually sufficient. The outerend 5 is preferably thicker than the web of the arm and is apertured, asat 7, to secure the fastening bolt, which is intended to secure thatpart of the device. The disks 1 and 2 usually about four inches indiameter, are apertured at 11, 12 to receive the bolt 11.

Concentric with the apertures 11 and 12 are double inclined cam facedrecesses 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, whose cross sections are preferably soformed as to exhibit true arcs of a circle, but whose depth is greatestat points preferably midway of their ends and decreases regularly toform inclined ways from those centers to each end, where they terminateabruptly but still retain partially spherical form, though I do notlimit myself to such formation. Preferably there are three of theserecesses in each member of the device, evenly spaced, with slightintervals between and so placed that in one member a radial lineextending through the interval on the side nearest the arm, will be atan angle of 60 with the median line of said arm, while in the other,said radial line would parallel said median line of the superimposedarm, the result being that when they are placed face to face with therespective recesses of one disk opposite those of the other, the arm 3will be horizontal. Beyond the recesses 1520, both disks are preferablygrooved, as at 21, 22, to receive a dust band 23.

On the outer face of disk 1 I place an annular rubber spring 24, clampedbetween the face of its adjacent disk on the one side and the inner faceof a (preferably) dished compression plate 26, interposed between saidspring and a washer 38, which in turn contacts with the head 28, of bolt14, the nut 29 of said bolt being preferably secured by a cotter pin 30,extending through the bolt 14, and notches 31 cut in said nut; lubricantrecesses are provided in each disk shown at 50. To the spring 40, of thevehicle (or some other part connected rigidly with the axle) I secure aconnecting rod 41, 42, by a clip 45, which is hinged to said rod at 46.The opposite end of the rod is jointed to the arm 3 by a pivot bolt 47.As shown, said rod is constructed in two pieces, one provided with asocket portion 42 into which the end of the other portion 41 fitssnugly, being held therein by two set screws 48, 49. This arrangementpermits of a ready adjustment of the device to fit spaces of differentwidths and the convenient taking up of any slack, without any cutting ofthe rod. 41, 42.

The operation of the device is as follows: The disk 2 is secured to theframe or body of the car 35, and the end 5 of arm 3 on disk 1, to therod 41, 42, which is in turn secured to the axle or some part rigidlyconnected thereto, as already noted, disk 1 having been placed over andclosely facing, but not touching, disk 2, being held from contact by aseries of balls 32, 33, 34, located then, at the deepest part of eachrecess 1520. Outside of disk 1 is the rubber spring 24 held to place bythe, preferably dished, compression plate 26 and washer 38 and allsecured tightly together by the bolt 14. In assembling the device, thenut on said bolt is turned down so tightly that the parts are all heldvery firmly together. There is therefore a considerable force opposingthe turning of one disk on the other, (which would happen if the bodyapproached or receded from the axle of the car and arm 3 moved up ordown) for the reason that any such movement, as will be apparent from aninspection of Figs. 1, 2 and 1.2 would tend to move the deepest parts ofthe recesses of one disk away from those of the opposing disk, thusleaving less room in the immediately opposed parts of the respectiverecesses, for the balls. As they cannot yield to any appreciable extent,the disks must separate to permit their rotary movement, but suchseparation involves the compres sion of the rubber spring and thatrequires great force. Consequently the movement of one disk on the faceof the other, around their common axis (represented by the bolt) isopposed by the stress of the spring. At the same time such movement ispermitted by the fact that the opposition is that of a Gui, U

spring, which of course yields with a resistance which increases as thecompression increases, with both impact and rebound. The result, as ismanifest, is, that any tendency of the body of the superstructure toapproach the so-called fixed support (the axle) or to move away from it,is restrained and at the same time cushioned as set forth, and thevehicle rides much easier, with consequent lessening of the wear of itsparts. Simple inclined planes placed one upon another have a tendency tostick at some points, which greatly militates against their usefulnessin such a device, since it is quite as necessary that the parts resumetheir usual positions, (after the shock) and become ready to receive andcushion a suc ceeding one, as it was that they should re ceive andcushion the first, but the use of the ball bearings between the disksentirely avoids the possibility of any such sticking.

In Figs. 10 and 11, I have shown a modification of the device aforesaid.Instead. of securing one disk rigidly to the body, I provide each diskwith arms, secure the end 5 of arm 3 to the body, and the end 6 of theother arm 4 to the axle or connected part, the disks being preferablyadjusted with the arms, normally, at an angle of (30 one to the other. Ialso, preferably, in such case, provide two rubber springs 24, 25, twocompression plates 26, 27, and two washers 08. 39. I could equally wellsecure the end of arm 4 to the body of the vehicle and the end of arm 3to the axle. But the action. of the thus modified device issubstantially similar to that already described. Beveled rollers 3G, 37,two of which are shown in Fig. 13, would to a great degree accomplishthe same result. The ends of the recesses 1520, are preferably madeabrupt to insure that no ball shall be turned out of its appropriaterecess. If desired, the compression plates may extend entirely over theouter faces of the rubber springs, and be provided with flanges 43, 44,which substantially inclose a part, but not all of theircircun'iferential faces, thus aiding their qualities of resistance andtheir quick return to normal form. As an equivalent, the disks may beflanged instead of the plates. Instead of similar recesses in each disk,I could make substantially hemi-spherical recesses in one and those ofthe form shown in Fi 4, in the other and correspondingly construct adevice having rollers in place of spheres, but in that event, the wearwould be more localized and that I desire to avoid whenever convenient.I do not limit myself to rubber springs, nor to two springs.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a shock absorber, the combination of two disks adapted to berespectively secured, one to the body and the other to the runningesnsve gear of a vehicle, and placed face to face and held together, oneprovided with a recess whose wall is in the form of inclined ways, theother with a recess adapted to retain a rotary bearing part, a rotarybearing part interposed between said disks and entering said respectiverecesses, a clamping device adapted to hold said disks together and aspring interposed between said clamping device and the disk.

2. In a shock absorber, the combination of two disks adapted to berespectively secured, one to the body and the other to the running gearof a vehicle and placed face to face and held together, one providedwith a recess whose wall is in the form of double inclined ways, theother provided with a recess adapt ed to retain a rotary bearing part, arotary bearing part interposed between said disks and entering saidrespective recesses, a clamping device adapted to hold said diskstogether and a spring interposed between said clamping device and thedisk.

3. In a shock absorber, the combination of two disks adapted to berespectively secured, one to the body and the other to the running gearof a vehicle and placed face to face and held together, each providedwith recesses whose walls form inclined ways adapted to retain a rotarybearing part, a rotary bearing part interposed between said disks andentering said respective recesses, a clamping device adapted to holdsaid disks together and a spring interposed between said clamping deviceand the disk.

4. In a shock absorber, the combination of two disks adapted to berespectively secured, one to the body and the other to the running gearof a vehicle, and placed face to face and held together, each providedwith recesses whose walls form double inclined ways, adapted to retain arotary bearing part, a rotary bearing part interposed between said disksand entering said respective recesses, a clamping device adapted to holdsaid disks together and a spring interposed between said clamping deviceand the disk.

5. In a shock absorber, the combination of two disks adapted to berespectively secured one to the body and the other to the running gearof a vehicle and placed face to face and held together, one providedwith a recess whose wall is in the form of inclined ways, the other witha recess adapted to retain a spherical bearing part, a spherical bearingpart interposed between said disks and entering said respectiverecesses, a clamping device adapted to hold said disks together and aspring interposed between said clamping device and the disk.

6. In a shock absorber, the combination of two disks adapted to berespectively secured to the body and the running gear of a vehicle,placed face to face and held together, one provided with a recess whosewall is in the form of inclined ways, the other with a recess adapted toretain a rotary bearing part, a rotary bearing part interposed betweensaid disks and entering said respective recesses, a spring interposedbetween said clamping device and the disk and a dust guard extendingfrom one disk to the other, substantially as set forth.

7. In a shock absorber, the combination of two disks adapted to berespectively secured, one to the body and the other to the running gearof a vehicle and placed face to face and held together, one providedwith a recess whose wall is in the form of inclined ways, the other witha recess adapted to retain a rotary bearing part, a rotary bearing partinterposed between said disks and entering said respective recesses, aclamping device adapted to hold said disks together, a spring interposedbetween said clamping device and the disk, a .bolt passing through theparts, a nut on one end and a head on the other end of said bolt andwashers interposed respectively between the clamping plate and thebolt-head and the clamping plate and the nut.

8. In a shock absorber, the combination of two disks adapted to berespectively secured, one to the body and the other to the running gearof a vehicle and placed face to face and held together, one providedwith a recess whose wall is in the form of inclined ways, the other witha recess adapted to retain a rotary bearing part, a rotary bearing partinterposed between said disks and entering said respective recesses, aclamping device adapted to hold said disks together and a rubber springinterposed between said clamping device and the disk.

9. In a shock absorber, the combination of two disks adapted to berespectively secured, one to the body and the other to the running gearof a vehicle and place face to face and held together, one provided witha recess whose wall is in the form of inclined ways, the other with arecess adapted to retain a rotary bearing part, a rotary bearing partinterposed between said disks and entering said respective recesses aclamping device adapted to hold said disks together and including acompression plate extending over the outer face, and a flange extendingover a part of the circumferential edge of the spring of the device.

10. In a shock absorber, the combination of two disks adapted to berespectively secured, one to the body and the other to the running gearof a vehicle and placed face to face and held together, each providedwith recesses whose walls form double inclined ways with the deepestparts of the respective recesses set opposite each other, adapted toretain a rotary bearing part, a rotary bearing part interposed betweensaid disk and entering said respective recesses, a

clamping device adapted to hold said disks together and a springinterposed between said clamping device and the disk.

11. In a shock absorber, the combination of two disks adapted to berespectively secured, one to the body and the other to the running gearof a vehicle and placed face to face and held togetl'ier, each providedwith recesses whose walls form double inclined ways with the deepestparts of: the respective recesses set opposite to each other, adapted toretain a spherical bearing part, a spherical bearing part interposedbetween said disks and entering said respective recesses, a clampingdevice adapted to hold said disks together and a spring interposedbetween said device and the disk.

12. In a shock absorber, the combination of two parts, adapted to besecured together and also adapted to be respectively secured, directlyor indirectly, one to the body and the other to the running gear of avehicle,

one part provided with a recess whose wall is in the form of lnclinedways, the other wlth a recess adapted to retain a rotary bearing part, arotary bearing part interposed between said recessed parts and enteringsaid respective recesses, a clamping device adapted to hold saidrecessed parts together and a spring interposed between a recessed partinterposed between one of said parts and the clamping part and anadjusting rod secured to an arm of the shock absorber and constituting apart of the connection to the vehicle, all substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this10th day o't February A. D. 1909.

FRANK W. MERRITT.

Witnesses HAROLD C. KNoErrnL, A. G. N. VERMILYA.

